Secrets and Boomslang Skin
by MandyJane
Summary: Lily's sixth year at Hogwarts begins with the Christmas term, and the incident by the lake last year never happened. How will she and James get together, if at all? And what will ruin her relationship with Severus? LE/JP SB/MM. T for sporadic swearing
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - Yes, yes, I'm _terrible _for not updating 'Hogwarts, the matchmaker' but I'm on a Lily/James jag and I htink this could be sweet. Like with the other stories, updating will be SERIOUSLY disjointed until May 2011 is over, because of AS Levels, but I still hope you like this :) please leave a review if you have somehting to say!**

"AAARGH!" I shrieked as I fell backwards off the train, arms flailing wildly, to a smushed and gory end on the cold stone platform…or so I though. As I tumbled down, oh-so-gracefully, a pair of strong arms caught me and set me upright again.

"Careful, Lily. We've only been here five minutes, you don't want to start adding to the bloodstains and dents you've inflicted on the school already."

"You know, if you're going to save a girl then you should probably drag out the gratitude for as long as possible, rather than insulting her straight away." I scoffed, turning to thank my scathing saviour "Wha—Potter!"

"Why so shocked, Lily-flower? Surely after all these years you recognise my manly voice? And hey, since you've already fallen for me, how about I take you to Hogsmeade next weekend?" he grinned at me cockily, tilting his head to one side. My stomach did a little flip (from repulsion, I'll have you know. It's been doing it since fifth year. A very discerning stomach it is too.)

"Very witty, Potter" I pierced him with my steeliest glare. Or at least I hope I did – sometimes it just looks like I'm squinting "But I know a date with you is actually a date with you and the rest of your moronic cronies, so I'll have to pass."

"OI, EVANS!" A yell came from behind a stack of trunks, and Sirius Black loped up behind Potter, flicking his shaggy hair out of his eyes "I heard that! And don't worry, O Floral One, I know you're just _dying _for a date with me, or even just some time in a broom closet after dinner. But alas! I cannot be tied down! Like a fleeting wind, like a wild hippogriff: I am majestic and yet untameable-"

"Shut up, Black, the air's getting warmer as you keep talking." My best friend, Marlene, cut his melodramatic declamation off mid-flow "We don't need to hear why you've never had a relationship longer than your broomstick" He opened his mouth, a wicked look on his face, but she stopped him again "And don't you dare turn that into a sex joke! Here, carry this to the carriages for me." She slammed a heavy bag into his arms and they walked off, bickering.

"Walk you to the carriages?" James asked hopefully, rocking back on his heels

"Sorry, Potter, but no. I promised I'd meet up with Sev to say hi before the feast" I replied regretfully, and his face fell marginally.

"Fair enough. I'll save you a seat at the feast, Lily-flower!" He bounded away after Sirius.

"Don't call me that!" I shouted after him, but he had already mingled in with the crowds of students and clouds of smoke. I smiled ruefully. It's strange how your perceptions of people change with time: this term last year I never had conversations with Potter (at least, civil ones), mainly because he was an insufferable git who hexed at random and _never _stopped asking me out. Even in the most inappropriate surroundings, like the Halloween feast or, memorably, half way through my Charms OWL. But I had found that he had improved a lot since that joke had got old: we'd been exchanging letters all holiday and (dare I say it?) we were almost friends. Never thought I'd count Potter as a mate! Clearly miracles do happen.

I pushed my way through the crowd, my small bag slung over my shoulder. Eventually I found Sev, standing by the cart as Professor Gripthorn shrunk and levitated trunks into it.

"Hey Sev!" I greeted him cheerfully "I didn't see you on the train – how was your summer?"

"Oh, yeah, I was with Avery. Good thanks." He said distractedly, before his eyes narrowed and focused on me "Was that Potter you were talking to? What did he want this time?" He scowled angrily on James' name. I bridled slightly under his accusatory tone – Potter and Sev had never got on well (or at all, honestly), but that did not give Sev a right to interrogate me, as he had a tendency to.

"Oh, nothing much" I said coolly, daring him to make more of it "He was just asking about my summer. It was great, by the way." He looked a little remorseful at that.

"I'm sorry Lily" he sighed "But-"

"Never mind" I cut him off "Let's get to the carriages before they're all gone" he hesitated, uncertain. "Go on!" I gestured impatiently, and he started through the throng again. I followed in his wake, slightly grumpy, even if I didn't know why.

Sev pushed through a group of Slytherin girls in the year below us (quite rudely, now that I think about it) and one of them blushed bright red and started giggling.

"Here we go again" one of them muttered as I passed through "Yes, Arella, Prince Charming just looked you in the eyes and, wait for it ladies, _touched _your _arm! _Swoon! Oh how will you ever be content again? How can you bear to wash it?" They continued teasing her mercilessly, but my attention was drawn to Sev, who appeared to have missed all of this. I know this is rather self-centred, but I'd never really thought of him as a _boy_. He was just Sev to me! But looking at him now, I suppose to some girls he might be quite fanciable…he was tall, and although last term he was really tall and gangly, he'd filled in over the holiday. There were definite hints of muscle under his pale skin, and his shoulders were broad beneath his black school robe. But his face? Well, cruel though it may be, Sev was not by any definition a looker. He was terrifyingly pale in contrast with his poker straight black hair that hung around his face like curtains; his nose was large and hooked over; when he was angry his eyes looked like black beetles, and his eyebrows like thin, vindictive caterpillars. No, the draw must be his personality – he was quiet and intelligent, and incredibly patient. So unlike another guy I knew…Potter was far less mature and sophisticated than Sev: all of his edges were rough. And yet sometimes when he looked at me, his brown eyes were so soft and full of some intangible emotion that…

"Lily?" Sev's black eyes regarded me quizzically

"Oh? Yeah?" I broke out of my reverie about Potter's eyes, blushing beetroot. (Curse my colouring, the traitor!) Sev looked at me as if I was a small child.

"Lily, you have to get _into _the carriage before it leaves…"

I blushed even more, if that's possible "Sorry! Zoned out for a second there" I clambered up and the carriage jolted into motion, pulled along jerkily by some sort of invisible force.

XXX

"Lily! Over here!" Marlene yelled, standing on a bench and waving furiously. I pushed through to her, annoyed. My carriage ride had most defiantly _not_ been enjoyable – We'd been in with Bellatrix Black and Eugene Nott, and some others of their gang. They were in the year above us mostly, all Slytherin, and all utterly terrible people, as far as I could tell. Sev seemed to have no trouble chatting to them, but they freaked me out royally. And in addition to this, Hogwarts was always full to bursting with people at the start of term – I don't know _where _they all come from – so I was understandably quite distracted as I wedged myself in on the bench next to Hannah Prewitt. So distracted, in fact, that I didn't notice, until the headmaster called for our attention, who was on my other side: Potter. And he looked far too pleased about our situation, namely that I was pressed up against him. _Right _against him.

"Hannah! Can you shove up?" I hissed out of the side of my mouth, ignoring his beatific beaming on my other side, ridiculous boy.

"Sorry Lils" she replied "But I really can't – unless oyu want those first years at the end to fall off the bench. And since you're a prefect you should probably stop your campaign of gratuitous violence against the younger students…" She trailed off as Marlene choked out a laugh, holding her fist to her mouth to stifle it. Hannah carried on making eyes at Amos Diggory, over on the Hufflepuff table.

"You're _ever _so helpful, Han" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm "Just the _best_ friend in the world. _Endlessly_ supportive." She didn't look up, so I hit her arm a tricky feat when you're squished that much!) "and stop flirting with Diggory, he has a girlfriend"

"Well, I do try. And he doesn't anymore, they broke up this holiday"

"Today! On the train! That relationship isn't even cold in its grave!" I looked at her, exasperated "And besides, it's _Diggory! _What could you possibly see in him?"

"Well they'd only been going out for a month. And I find all Hufflepuffs irresistible. It's their natural, rugged charm" She winked at me and went back to her sickening display of eye flirting. I, on the other hand, decided to listen to Dumbledore for a change.

"…And in addition to this, the first floor classrooms on the West side of the castle are not in use this term due to an abiding infestation of Snurgling Moss. A list of room changes will be displayed on your house noticeboards until Professor Stomata can clear it up. Finally, before we eat" his icy blue eyes twinkled down on us. That's another thing – Dumbledore's eyes always twinkly! It's as if someone cast a ruddy Sparkling Spell on him and forgot to take it off "I have an exciting announcement for you all. At the end of this term there will be a Midsummer ball for the fifth, Sixth and Seventh years. Your Heads of House will give you more information closer to the time. But for now: dig in!"

The food sprung up in dishes, but all over the hall girls began to chatter excitedly abour hair, dresses and dates. I groaned.

"Perk up Lils" Marlene grinned at me, but there was a steely glint in her eyes that belied her lighthearted tone "You'll enjoy it, once you get into the Process"

"Process? What Process? And why does it sound like it has a capital letter?" I sat up a little straighter, loading food onto my plate. This was not sounding good at all – Knowing Marlene, I was going to be turned into some sort of dress-up-doll. "besides, who says I'm even going to this stupid ball?"

"I do!"

"I do"

"I do"

"I do"

Potter, Marlene, Hannah and Black all answered me, their faces perfectly serious.

"Lily, we won't have anywhere near as much fun if you aren't there "Hannah explained

"And there's no way I can persuade McKinnon to snog me if she isn't having a good time!" Sirius added. Marlene threw a carrot at him.

"And I'm only going if you're my date." James finished, grinning. He was glinting just like Marlene had a few moments earlier. I stared at them all in shock.

"Three…two…one! Great! Five seconds of silence means yes! She's going with you then, James. And I wouldn't snog you if you were the last male on earth, Black"

"That's not what you said this holiday" Sirius said silkily, and Marlene flushed bright red, suddenly finding her plate incredibly interesting. Finally, I burst.

"Wait, whaa- NO BLOODY WAY am I going with Potter! And what did you do over the holidays? I thought you went to Spain?"

"Well, I was, but…" Hannah cut her stammerings off

"Yes, actually, you are going with Potter" she said coolly, cutting a piece of chicken in half "It's all decided Lily."

"Potter!" I spluttered, very attractively, "why?"

"Aw, Lily's rendered speechless with affection for you, Prongs! How sweet! Oh to be young and in love—" Marlene slapped Sirius on the back of the head before he could get into another speech. I swear that boy was born to be an actor. A bad one, yes, but an actor all the same.

"Don't you want to go with me, Lils?" I turned slightly to look at him, and was about to retort with a suitably scathing and incredibly witty but not at all hurtful reply, but then I looked into his eyes…

I've never done that before. Looked into his eyes, I mean. Not properly. They…They're so brown, and warm. They look like you could drown in them if you weren't careful. And – oh my goodness – his hair! Was it as soft as it looks? I leaned in a little, just a little, but was startled by a giggle from Marlene. I looked down, blushing yet again as I realised just how close we were together. Potter cleared his throat and studiously looked in the other direction as I played with my cutlery.

"Looks like Lily here might want to go with Potter after all. I mean. If enraptured gazing and gasps are anything to go on" Marlene remarked wickedly to Sirius.

"Well it would seem that way, wouldn't it? He replied glibly "And she's put Prongs in quite a state, hasn't she?" My eyes snapped up to James. He was staring at the wall beyond Sirius' head, his face was red and he looked quite distracted.

"We—we aren't going together" I repeated uncertainly, questioningly, to my so-called friends. They weren't very sympathetic.

After the feast (which was full of innuendoes and jokes about eye-flirting thanks to Hannah) we traipsed up to our dormitory, followed unsettlingly by the Marauders. I think my face was hot enough to cook on when I realised that James was always behind me – including on stairs. When we reached the safety of the girl's staircase and our lovely dormitory I collapsed on my bed in relief. Merlin but I miss this bed over the holidays! It's the comfiest thing in the whole world! I curled up and sighed contently, burying my head in my pillow.

"What's she doing now?" Hannah moaned from across the room

"Greeting her bed again, just like last term, and the term before, and the one before that. I swear she loves that bed more than us, you know!" She raised her voice slightly "Careful Lils, James'll get jealous if he finds out about this!"

"Bog off, McKinnon" I mumbled into my beautiful pillow. Who needs friends with a bed like this?

"Well, at least she doesn't sleep around" Hannah quipped

"Yeah, she's a one bad woman, right?"

I summoned up enough energy to glare at them balefully, but then I remembered – I'm a witch!

"Uh-oh. She's got that look again" Hannah looked very worried as I scrabbled around for my wand, producing it triumphantly from under a blanket.

"Now Lily" Marlene backed away a little "You know we aren't supposed to use magic gratuitously…"

I smiled sweetly at them and waved my wand in a spiral above my head. "Avis", I said, and a stream of small white birds flew out of my wand and began to circle around me lazily.

My friends went deathly pale.

"OPPUGNO!" I shrieked, and then I fell back on my bed, laughing wildly as they attempted to hide from the feathered attackers. After a few moments the birds disappeared as the charm wore off, and the others went back to unpacking (grumbling about redheads and tempers as they did so – I really expected something more imaginative after all these years.) I dragged myself up and joined them. After about twenty minutes the door swung open creakily and a girl walked in, a girl I didn't recognise from anywhere. She was tiny, barely five feet, with translucently pale skin and white blonde hair in a thick bun at the nape of her neck. She looked as if all the colour had leaked out of her, apart from her eyes, which were dark, soft, and huge in her thin face. With her birdlike frame and lack of colour she looked terrifyingly fragile, as if she might crumble at any minute.

"Abrielle?" Hannah asked hesitantly

"Hello" she replied softly, not looking up, and suddenly I remembered her: Abrielle Tabescere. She was in our year but had left two weeks into last term because she was ill. But back then she was tanned and healthy with thick brown hair – what on earth had happened?

"Abrielle, are you alright?" Marlene walked towards her slowly, as if worried that she could frighten her "You look…"

"I'm very well, thank you" she replied smartly, her shoulders tensed as she folded clothes and placed them in her cupboard "Did you all have good holidays? Mine were just lovely. Really relaxing."

"Um, yeah, they were nice enough" Marlene replied, clearly bemused. She turned back and carried on unpacking herself, and an awkward silence fell over the room.

XXX

I have no clue _what_ is going on with that girl. I mean, she seemed fine the last time I saw her (we all believed that she was 'ill' rather than ill, to get out of school) and what illness changes your appearance that much anyway? It's a crazy, utterly loony situation and I don't know what to make of it. And she wouldn't come to breakfast either. Who doesn't go to breakfast? The food here is amazingly good! And today there are waffles, so I'm going to be in an exceptionally good mood. They really are delicious.

Oh, great.

There goes my awesome morning.

Black is snogging some girl, _on top of the table, next to us._

How am I supposed to eat without throwing up, thanks to that display of affection?

"Hey!" Hannah exclaimed as the table rocked and her tea splashed her robes "Black! Take it outside, yeah? I'm hoping to stay both dry and innocent today, thanks." Marlene snorted at that.

"Innocent might be stretching it a bit" she muttered to me "Given the things she's told us…" Hannah slapped her arm, but Black got up and swaggered out of the room grumpily (how on earth does he manage to swagger grumpily? Then again, Sirius could probably swagger sheepishly if he wanted to.), his tousled friend following him dazedly. Our attention was caught by the owls, swooping down and depositing papers and letters throughout the hall. I unfurled my _Daily Prophet _quickly as Marlene and Hannah bickered over the strawberry jam.

"Oh no" I breathed, and they both looked down at the headlines in front of us.

_ELUSIVE 'LORD VOLDEMORT' GROWS IN POWER, AMASSING AN ARMY OF MAGICAL BEINGS._

_'DEATH EATERS' BEGIN TO MULTIPLY: COULD THE DARK LORD HAVE INFILTRATED HOGWARTS?_

_MUGGLE AND MUGGLE-BORN DEATHS INCREASE – ARE HALF-BLOODS NEXT?_

**A/N2 - In other news, Prince William married Kate Middleton today! And weren't they cute? I love that he winked to her halfway through! Although Harry is still my favourite prince for laughing the entire time he was on that balcony... :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - I know, I know, it's been _forever_ and I'm so so incredibly sorry and I hope this makes up for it! I'll try to be a little more punctual in future!**

Secrets and Boomslang Skin

Chapter Two

The _Prophet _headlines caused the castle to be a little subdued for a while, with many people flinching at the merest thing until the fear died down and everything returned to almost-normal. I mean, as normal as they can be when half the school believes the other half to be working for the most misguided man in the world. To be honest, I think it's all going to blow over fairly quickly. There are too many intelligent wizards and witches in the world to let one pureblood supremacist scare us all silly for the rest of our lives.

But anyway, as I walked to Charms there were a lot of nervous mutterings from younger students which I ignored cheerfully (well, as cheerfully as I could when Potter was walking next to me).

"Good morning, light-of-my-life-Lily!"

I groaned, "Seriously, Potter, why the stupid nicknames? And you saw me just ten minutes ago at breakfast, I don't know why you're so excited all of a sudden"

"Nicknames show affection" he replied, grinning widely "and I'm always pleased to see you, O date-to-the-dance"

"We are not going together" I said through gritted teeth, before quickly freeing them as I realised that I was actually getting jaw ache. Hurt myself for Potter's benefit? Never, not even to insult him.

He slung an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer (how can he carry all his books in one arm? HOW? I can barely manage with two! Stupid quidditch muscles)

"Now Queen Lily, I thought we'd established this at dinner last night: we're going together for the good of our friendship group-"

"Black is not my friend" I interjected, trying to escape from the weirdly comforting weight of his arm

"-because the consequences of us not going together are too huge to even consider-"

"such as my happiness"

"I mean, Sirius will be grumpy because McKinnon will be too busy looking after you all night to snog him, so Hogwarts will be plagued by bad pranks for weeks while he's off his game; McKinnon herself wants you to go and have a good time so she can snog Sirius; Prewitt want you to have a good time because she's a nice person or something, and I won't go if you don't, thereby depriving the entire castle of a chance to gaze on our combined awesomeness all evening. Clear? Great, now did we have holiday work? Because I've not done it. I wonder if Flitwick accepts bribes this term…"

I laughed in spite of myself, and was rewarded (cursed?) with a genuinely happy smile from him that took me by surprise. He's really attractive with that smile…I wish he'd do that more often.

"Ow!"

I tumbled to the ground, tripping over my own feet as my books were flung across the emptying corridor. Damn James Potter and his stupid, magically entrancing smile. Speaking of, he knelt down to help me get my books, which I grabbed off him rather grumpily.

"I would make another joke about falling for me, but I have a feeling we've already covered that ground"

"Shut up" I snapped, gathering my textbooks back into my bag "this is all your fault anyway, Potter."

He stood there, gaping, for a second as I stormed through the doorway to the Charms classroom to claim my usual seat at the front – which was _taken._ I kid you not, someone stole my seat on the _first day of term_ just because I was a _teensy_ bit late owing to unforeseen prats. Prat. Singular.

I dumped my armful of stuff on the only empty desk at the back, and was soon joined by a familiar form.

"Oh no" I hissed as Flitwick started talking in his squeaky little voice "you are _not _sitting with me Potter, no way in any imagination is that happening"

"There are no other seats Lily" he replied, trying to move some of my things over to one side without attracting Flitwick's attention. Which failed, miserably.

"Mr Potter? Why are you not yet seated?" He looked askance at us over his little spectacles, beard flapping in mild indignation. Everyone else turned around to look at us, so naturally I turned a shade of red hitherto unseen on earth. Yay.

"We're just sorting out Lily's things, Professor" he replied smoothly, perfectly composed (I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous) "I'm sorry for delaying the class"

"Ah. Well carry on then, carry right on. Now, as I was saying, these seats will be your seats for the rest of the year – I will tolerate no gratuitous moving around!" his high voice squeaked at the end "We have important exams coming up! This is your first year of N.E.! Work is more important than who you are sitting with!"

"Potter" I whispered, jogging his arm "Potter please tell me I'm not hearing him right"

"Crystal clear, Lily-flower" he grinned at me again, which made it a lot harder to be annoyed at him

"But" I protested "But I've always sat at the front! With Hannah! Always!"

"Change is good for the soul" he remarked, turning his attention back to the diminuitive professor who was not beginning the work on Appearance Charms. I freaked out quietly for a few moments, but Charms is Charms and nothing could spoil this lesson for me. And Potter isn't so bad really, while he's not asking me out in inappropriate situations. I actually had quite a lot of fun, when I decided to be brave and Gryffindory and give him the benefit of the doubt – though charming his hair purple did help quite a bit!

XXX

I ended up sitting with James in Transfiguration (because no-one else could put up with his genius for it without slapping him) and Divination (because we both hated it) as well, as the lessons passed I had more and more fun with him. I know, I'm shocked too. But here we are, half-way through the Christmas term and I'm hanging out with him outside of lessons as well. I'm the only person in Gryffindor who can match him at Wizard's Chess, and he's helping me to learn to fly, since I decided over the summer that I really wasn't exploiting that wizardly pastime enough. Besides, it would freak Petunia out next holiday!

My friends were a bit surprised, but they adapted fairly quickly. They did exchanged a _lot_ of meaningful glances whenever I went to meet Potter for studying though, which I chose to ignore (magnanimously, in my opinion). Black and Remus were better, apart from all Sirius' jokes, which _really _could have done without.

I don't see what all the fuss is about: we used to not be friends, now we are. Simple, right? Not according to the rest of Hogwarts.

"Why are they all looking at us?" I muttered as James and I left the Great Hall together

"Because you're so pretty" he answered absent-mindedly, digging through his pockets in search of something.

"Idiot" I retorted, stopping at the base of the staircases "I need to go and get my books, I left them in the library. Meet you later to go over the Transfiguration homework?" I slapped his arm to get his attention and he finally looked up, the stupid thing.

"Wha—oh, yeah, sure. Hey, do you know what the date today is?"

"The fifteenth of November, and it's a Tuesday so yes, you have Quidditch training tonight. And you left your quill in the common room, stop looking for it in your pockets. See you later James!" I called back over my shoulder as I walked away from him to the library. Really, I don't know what that boy would do without me – he'd probably just forget he even had to do schoolwork!

I was just scooping up my books from the little table I had been working at when Sev came up beside me and helped me pile up the parchment that had spread over the tabletop.

"Hey Sev" I greeted him cheerily "I've not seen you in ages! Isn't it annoying that they've put Gryffindor with Hufflepuff for Potions this year? I've ended up partnering Theo Gultrot, and it's really boring-"

"Why are you so friendly with James Potter all of a sudden?" he spat at me, dark eyes staring into mine accusingly. I gaped at him, astonished

"What?"

"Don't act dumb" he scoffed "you know exactly what I mean. Laughing, touching his arm, smiling at him. He's just playing you Lily" He grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him "You have to remember who he is – a liar, a bully"

"He's not that bad, Sev" I retorted "If you'd just give him a chance-"

"I did" he replied angrily "And he humiliated me in front of everyone – remember that? And remember when he charmed your hair to sing love songs all day? All the things he's done to me, to us, all these years?"

"He thought that was _funny, _Sev. He was just a stupid kid, and we did some stupid stuff too. He's grown up this summer – and so have I. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, thanks" I shook him off and grabbed my books "I'll see you later, maybe. I need to go."

I stalked away, but he caught me after a few steps, that well-known face twisted into an unfamiliar grimace.

"I'm sorry Lily" he sighed "I just…I worry about you sometimes."

"That's nice Sev" I replied icily, shaking him off "I'll see you in Herbology"

XXX

"Where is Lily, where is Lily, where is Lily?" Marlene was shrieking as I came through the portrait hole "There is Lily!" she ran at me, wild-eyed and quite intimidating, even to someone as skilled in shaking people off as me.

Hannah rolled her eyes "I'm going to go get my book before she starts again"

"Will you take my books?" I pleaded "This looks as if it might take a while"

"Oh, trust me, it will" She said drily, taking my armload from me as Marlene dragged me over to the armchairs.

"Lily, I'm freaking out" she told me earnestly, playing nervously with the buttons on her robe "I really don't know what to do. I mean, we were just joking around this summer, I never expected any of this to come into real life, and now everyone's going to see and he'll tell all his friends and _I don't know how to stop it_ and then theres-"

"Marlene! Talk at a speed humans can understand! What 's going on?"

She collapsed into an armchair, head in hands, and muttered something unintelligible

"What?" the head came up, and two anguished blue eyes stared straight into mine

"I'm on the student committee for the Midsummer ball"

I almost laughed. In fact, I think it shows great self restraint that I didn't, but I think she noticed.

"No, Lily, you don't understand. There are two Sixth Year representatives for each house, a boy and a girl, and they have to go to the ball together, to set an example." She leaned forward and lowered her voice to tell the last part of the story "And the other Gryffindor rep is…._Sirius Black_"

I couldn't help it – that part broke me. I laughed and laughed and laughed until my throat hurt and I could barely speak, while Marlene stared at me in despair. I actually slipped off the chair onto the floor, leaning my head back on the upholstery. I was just calming down with the occasional hiccupping giggle when Hannah rejoined us, sliding down next to me on the rug.

"So I see Lily had the same reaction as me then. Really Marlene, you couldn't have picked a worse time to show school spirit. I mean, you _hate _Black – even more than Lily does!"

"I don't hate the poor boy" I gasped, still recovering "I just think he's loud, rude, crude and unnecessary. Sometimes. Good taste in best friends though, right?"

They ignored me as Marlene sat on her knees in front of us, still obviously distressed

"But that's the problem" she hissed urgently "I don't hate him – I actually really really _don't _hate him. Really really really really don't" Her eyes bulged as she begged us to guess at what she was saying.

"So….you _like _Black?" Marlene slapped a hand over my mouth

"Don't say it! Don't even think it! It can't be true – or he can't know, not after this summer…" She trailed off, eyes widened in horror as we immediately leapt onto this clue. Hannah smirked wickedly at me.

"Marlene…" She began silkily

"Oh no no no no no" the girl in question murmered

"…what happened with Sirius this summer?"

She jumped up and rushed to the staircase, and we followed her, cackling hysterically like the witches we are. She did try to shut our dormitory door, but two against one is more than anyone can be expected to stand up to. And Hannah and I? Well, we're a good team. Between tickling and threats to paint her greatest secret on the walls of the Great Hall, we finally persuaded her to tell us what went on over the summer.

"Okay! Okay" she gasped, sinking onto the thick rug in the centre of the room "I'll tell you – but oyu mustn't tell Sirius. Or Remus. Or James, or _anyone_. "

"Deal"

"Well, you know I went to Spain for three weeks this holiday with my cousin Anne" She began slowly, nervously "I actually happened to just sort of…run into him one day. On the beach. At midnight. After he sent me an owl asking me to meet him there…"

The squeal coming from Hannah and myself at this point was enough to deafen the entire castle

"He arranged a _meeting_—"

"—on a _beach_—"

"—at _midnight_—"

"—_and you didn't tell us this before?"_

"It was weird!" she protested "I mean, who tracks you down in a foreign country and tells you to meet them at four in the morning? I was bloody terrified! But I did go, because it was definitely Sirius' handwriting, I have enough notes from him to know that"

"Notes that she happened to have with her in Spain?" Hannah remarked to me quietly.

"Shush, you _know _she probably memorised them, from where this story is going"

"Anyway" she said, exasperated "we just chatted on the beach for a while…every night until I went home. And that's all there is to it: he did something romantic, I realised and fell for him harder than a ton of ruddy bricks and now I have to deal with it while he snogs his way through the female population of Hogwarts. Present company excluded."

"That is _not_ all there is to it, Marlene McKinnon. Spill the beans, we know you move faster than that."

She blushed beet red, even redder than I can go (and that's a definite achievement)

"Okay, so he kissed me. Or I kissed him. A lot? But it _totally does not matter and or mean anything to him. Or me._ End of."

"Nooooo that's not the end" Hannah said slyly "You _like _him. A _lot_"

Marlene buried her face in her hands, and Hannah and I looked at each other, grinning hugely.

"I can't do anything" she said to us after we'd finished screeching and gushing about how cute Sirius was under all the melodrama "What happens on holiday, stays on holiday. I was probably just some random passing flirtation while he couldn't get to anyone else" Her face crumpled and her voice caught a little in her throat "But I…I do really like him."

"I'm sorry 'Lene" I sighed, giving her a hug "it's a pretty awful situation"

"Possibly not" Hannah said, a scary Plotting Glint in her eye. The kind of Glint that entirely deserves the capital 'G'. "What say you…seduce Sirius?"

"You can't seduce Sirius" I scoffed "He is the master seducer, not the seducee"

"So he won't be expecting it! It's the perfect plan! And think how surprised he'll be if you come down to breakfast tomorrow and flirt masterfully, put him firmly in his place and make every other guy in the room ask you to the ball – looking gorgeous all the while – when he know he's taking you? It'll drive him crazy: not being sure if he's got what everyone wants but slightly hinting at it all the while."

"I'm so confused"

"So will he be"

"Let's do it"

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